W.Va. man charged with assaulting sheriff's deputy

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - An Inwood, W.Va., man accused of taking a friend's truck without permission, crashing it into an abandoned store and then trying to punch an officer was arraigned on several charges Thursday.

Police charged Mark A. Bowling, 32, of Patrick Court, with battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, unlawful taking of a vehicle, public intoxication and assault on a police officer, all misdemeanors.

The incident began early Thursday when a man at Ollie's, a bar outside of Martinsburg, W.Va., reported his truck missing. He told police that he believed a friend who had a spare key, took the truck and crashed it into the old Lowe's store on Apple Harvest Drive.

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Deputies with the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department found the truck crashed into the building, and spotted blood on the steering wheel. They suspected whoever had been driving the truck hit his head on the windshield, records show.

When they went to a home in Martinsburg to find Bowling, they spotted him through a window, with a bandage on his forehead. While officers questioned him, Bowling was belligerent, denied wrecking the truck and seemed drunk, court records allege.

Bowling demanded the officers leave the home, which they did, records show. As they were walking away, Bowling went outside and started shouting at them, records allege.

When Cpl. Ron Gardner approached Bowling to arrest him on a charge of public intoxication, Bowling tried to punch Gardner, knocking his hat off, records allege. Both men fell to the ground before another deputy was able to help handcuff Bowling, records show.

When Gardner put Bowling against a police cruiser, Bowling jerked away, stepped close to Gardner's face and yelled profanities at the deputy, records allege.

A Martinsburg Police Department officer arrived and took Bowling to the sheriff's department for processing.